There are now over 10,000 modern roundabouts in America. You can download the database here:
https://www.mediafire.com/file/90dpinbdui84k79/Modern_Roundabouts_USA.kmz/file
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJ-wXqrWAAk
Do all states have at least one?
Quote from: sernum on December 28, 2021, 04:26:32 PM
Do all states have at least one?
Yes. There were seven states without one in 2007, but all of them have built some since then. https://www.siouxfalls.org/public-works/engineering/roundabouts/faqs (https://www.siouxfalls.org/public-works/engineering/roundabouts/faqs)
One neigboring city put in a roundabout – and stuck 4 stop signs on it, thereby defeating the purpose of a roundabout.
Quote from: Road Hog on December 29, 2021, 10:50:02 AM
One neigboring city put in a roundabout – and stuck 4 stop signs on it, thereby defeating the purpose of a roundabout.
:ded: :banghead:
Not a fan of roundabouts :banghead:
We need so many more. All-way stops are poorly designed and lead to all sorts of dumb conflicts.
Quote from: Bruce on December 30, 2021, 06:13:51 AM
We need so many more. All-way stops are poorly designed and lead to all sorts of dumb conflicts.
I agree. I've been happy where I've seen them installed.
Quote from: Bruce on December 30, 2021, 06:13:51 AM
We need so many more. All-way stops are poorly designed and lead to all sorts of dumb conflicts.
We need better engineers first. But I am not holding breath for that.
I wasn't a fan. I moved to Green Bay where they are all over the place, now they are easy to navigate.
I am mostly for roundabouts. I still raise an eyebrow at the string of roundabouts in Malta, NY, but for the most part I have seen roundabouts be much, much more of a benefit than a curse.
(https://i.imgur.com/tSnR52d.jpeg)
I for one appreciate a good roundabout; especially when I'm sitting there waiting for a daggum left turn arrow.
Quote from: thspfc on December 30, 2021, 09:50:57 AM
Quote from: HighwayStar on December 29, 2021, 07:11:46 PM
Not a fan of roundabouts :banghead:
Why?
Because there is no design culture nor qualifications to plan them properly. No understanding of the overall role, no planning for future development. I think I saw one roundabout design that included proper traffic analysis. Project cost ended up at $15M, and traffic they were planning for disappeared the next year.
I'll reserve my opinions on roundabouts in this thread and just touch on the database itself. This is the largest modern roundabout database in the US and consists of 10,116 existing modern roundabouts. For reference the Kittelson and Associates database currently consists of 9,547 existing US locations but these include modern roundabouts, traffic calming circles, and old-style rotaries. A great resource but much more broad in their scope (and for some reason Kittelson really like focusing on traffic calming circles in Seattle, Portland, and San Fran with only a sprinkling of traffic calming circles included throughout the rest of the country).
Normally I actually like roundabouts since I know how to navigate them properly (not everyone does), and I think my city (Jackson, Tennessee) should have more than it does, although the one it does have, in my opinion, was not put in the best of locations in my opinion (on the second-busiest north-south artery in the city), and I thought it was going to be a major catastrophe when it was installed, although the traffic has adapted well to it.
Speaking of people not navigating them properly, my family has not adapted to them well at all except for my mother, she's almost as good (not quite) at navigating around them, she's still slightly too slow / cautious in my opinion but not bad. My late father, late stater, and younger brother at least used to avoid them at all costs if possible (I don't know if my younger brother still does), they loathe / loathed them.
Roundabouts are just like any other control feature. If you're not comfortable gauging traffic while at a yield sign, then gauging traffic when you have the right of way while others are approaching a yield sign, how do you manage to drive every place else?
Quote from: kalvado on December 30, 2021, 10:17:20 AM
Quote from: thspfc on December 30, 2021, 09:50:57 AM
Quote from: HighwayStar on December 29, 2021, 07:11:46 PM
Not a fan of roundabouts :banghead:
Why?
Because there is no design culture nor qualifications to plan them properly. No understanding of the overall role, no planning for future development. I think I saw one roundabout design that included proper traffic analysis. Project cost ended up at $15M, and traffic they were planning for disappeared the next year.
That's one. How about the other 10,000+ roundabouts?
How many intersections were rebuilt, then rebuilt again? Only 1 needs to be found country-wide to match your experience on roundabouts.
Quote from: jeffandnicole on December 30, 2021, 01:00:57 PM
Roundabouts are just like any other control feature. If you're not comfortable gauging traffic while at a yield sign, then gauging traffic when you have the right of way while others are approaching a yield sign, how do you manage to drive every place else?
Quote from: kalvado on December 30, 2021, 10:17:20 AM
Quote from: thspfc on December 30, 2021, 09:50:57 AM
Quote from: HighwayStar on December 29, 2021, 07:11:46 PM
Not a fan of roundabouts :banghead:
Why?
Because there is no design culture nor qualifications to plan them properly. No understanding of the overall role, no planning for future development. I think I saw one roundabout design that included proper traffic analysis. Project cost ended up at $15M, and traffic they were planning for disappeared the next year.
That's one. How about the other 10,000+ roundabouts?
How many intersections were rebuilt, then rebuilt again? Only 1 needs to be found country-wide to match your experience on roundabouts.
I wouldn't be surprised if there is a thousand or so which were given enough thinking in design phase. So yield may be non-zero after all.
Oh, and did I mention my daily commute going through a total of 1.5 traffic lights and 7 roundabouts?
Quote from: tradephoric on December 28, 2021, 12:56:56 PM
There are now over 10,000 modern roundabouts in America. You can download the database here:
https://www.mediafire.com/file/90dpinbdui84k79/Modern_Roundabouts_USA.kmz/file
My anti-virus software flagged the page as dangerous. Can you confirm that it is not?
Quote from: mukade on December 30, 2021, 02:48:49 PM
Quote from: tradephoric on December 28, 2021, 12:56:56 PM
There are now over 10,000 modern roundabouts in America. You can download the database here:
https://www.mediafire.com/file/90dpinbdui84k79/Modern_Roundabouts_USA.kmz/file
My anti-virus software flagged the page as dangerous. Can you confirm that it is not?
I was able to download it and open it with GE without any issue with the link provided. But if there is another "safe" site that you trust to download from i can upload it there too.
Quote from: CoolAngrybirdsrio4 on December 30, 2021, 05:17:59 AM
Quote from: HighwayStar on December 29, 2021, 07:11:46 PM
Not a fan of roundabouts :banghead:
Neither am I.
However, I am tolerable of smaller roundabouts, but still can't stand the roundabouts at major intersections, where they are still crash prone, at least in Michigan that is.
Quote from: tradephoric on December 30, 2021, 03:00:10 PM
Quote from: mukade on December 30, 2021, 02:48:49 PM
Quote from: tradephoric on December 28, 2021, 12:56:56 PM
There are now over 10,000 modern roundabouts in America. You can download the database here:
https://www.mediafire.com/file/90dpinbdui84k79/Modern_Roundabouts_USA.kmz/file
My anti-virus software flagged the page as dangerous. Can you confirm that it is not?
I was able to download it and open it with GE without any issue with the link provided. But if there is another "safe" site that you trust to download from i can upload it there too.
I downloaded it. I would guess that the domain or IP address range has some questionable sites - hence the AV software flags it.
I looked at the data in Google Earth. Needless to say, I am very impressed at the effort taken to create this data set.
That said, I did notice that this database includes at least three differences than Kittelson. First, some future roundabouts are included in this database and second, I did notice at least one roundabout completely inside a factory (in the Honda plant in Greensburg, IN). Also, there isn't a distinction between the true modern roundabouts and the quasi-roundabouts you see inside some subdivisions. With Kittelson, the latter might be categorized as "other". I am not sure if the distinction is really meaningful, but it is another difference.
Now would probably be another good opportunity to state how much I hate those blasted things. I was in hopes that the proliferation of these infernal things would be a fad.
We have at least 350 in the Indianapolis area, and getting close to 250 in my county with many more planned. The city of Carmel alone has 140.
I am a big fan of them, and I think it is fair to say that the vast majority of people like them because they save so much time and hassle. They are popular enough that some cities erect "roundabout coming soon" signs at intersections where they are planned.
I suppose the more of them you have and the more used to them you become, the more you like them.
I became a huge fan of them in England because that was the only place I saw them. It crossed me up a little bit encountering one for the first time while driving on the right.
A question: They're everywhere in Europe, but do they fit the "modern roundabout" definition, or are they more like rotaries or traffic circles?
Rotaries and traffic circles operate differently.
Quote from: 1 on December 31, 2021, 06:59:10 AM
A question: They're everywhere in Europe, but do they fit the "modern roundabout" definition, or are they more like rotaries or traffic circles?
Some do and some don't, but that applies across the globe. Australia and New Zealand are similar in that they have numerous examples of both types.
To me, to truly qualify as a "modern" roundabout, the approach angles must be right and there must be a shoulder of some sort on the inside to keep trucks from running over high curbs or landscaping. Inside housing subdivisions, these features are usually missing from their "roundabouts" because the primary intent is most likely to slow down traffic. A secondary benefit is beautification. There are less expensive ways to implement traffic control on low volume streets if that was the only purpose.
No matter the type, roundabout signage and pavement markings are frequently used.
Both of the databases mentioned might benefit from having a field that denotes whether or not a roundabout meets whatever definition of modern roundabout is generally agreed upon.
Quote from: Rothman on December 31, 2021, 08:12:45 AM
Rotaries and traffic circles operate differently.
Multiplane ones
Quote from: Road Hog on December 31, 2021, 12:41:13 AM
I became a huge fan of them in England because that was the only place I saw them. It crossed me up a little bit encountering one for the first time while driving on the right.
This never gets old. These screenwriters were ahead of their time.
Quote from: mukade on December 30, 2021, 10:48:47 PM
We have at least 350 in the Indianapolis area, and getting close to 250 in my county with many more planned. The city of Carmel alone has 140.
I am a big fan of them, and I think it is fair to say that the vast majority of people like them because they save so much time and hassle. They are popular enough that some cities erect "roundabout coming soon" signs at intersections where they are planned.
I suppose the more of them you have and the more used to them you become, the more you like them.
Sometimes, though, it seems like Carmel has 5,000 of those 10,000 in the USA! :bigass:
Quote from: SSR_317 on January 08, 2022, 06:05:26 PM
Quote from: mukade on December 30, 2021, 10:48:47 PM
We have at least 350 in the Indianapolis area, and getting close to 250 in my county with many more planned. The city of Carmel alone has 140.
I am a big fan of them, and I think it is fair to say that the vast majority of people like them because they save so much time and hassle. They are popular enough that some cities erect "roundabout coming soon" signs at intersections where they are planned.
I suppose the more of them you have and the more used to them you become, the more you like them.
Sometimes, though, it seems like Carmel has 5,000 of those 10,000 in the USA! :bigass:
There are a few hundred roundabouts in a tight cluster just south of Miami Beach. This is probably the largest concentration of roundabouts in America.
Quote from: tradephoric on January 13, 2022, 01:33:08 PM
Quote from: SSR_317 on January 08, 2022, 06:05:26 PM
Quote from: mukade on December 30, 2021, 10:48:47 PM
We have at least 350 in the Indianapolis area, and getting close to 250 in my county with many more planned. The city of Carmel alone has 140.
I am a big fan of them, and I think it is fair to say that the vast majority of people like them because they save so much time and hassle. They are popular enough that some cities erect "roundabout coming soon" signs at intersections where they are planned.
I suppose the more of them you have and the more used to them you become, the more you like them.
Sometimes, though, it seems like Carmel has 5,000 of those 10,000 in the USA! :bigass:
There are a few hundred roundabouts in a tight cluster just south of Miami Beach. This is probably the largest concentration of roundabouts in America.
You didn't link and I could find no concentration of roundabouts just south of Miami Beach. However, I know of no higher concentration than this area (https://www.google.com/maps/@44.5391283,-88.0811605,15.69z?hl=en); drivers go through seven roundabouts in about a miles between Pamperin Park and St Mary's Hospital along the Packerland Drive/ Shawano Ave corridor. I'd be surprised if any other relatively busy corridor has this many roundabouts in that short a stretch, especially a four-lane corridor.
Using the map at https://roundabout.kittelson.com/ a search for Miami Beach shows 92 roundabouts in the resulting area. A search for Green Bay, Wi shows 169. A search for Carmel, IN shows 222.
The Indianapolis metro area shows 327 (most of which are around Carmel and the north suburbs).
I do see I get varying results depending on the starting point for the search, however the general trend is consistent.
Quote from: tradephoric on January 13, 2022, 01:33:08 PM
There are a few hundred roundabouts in a tight cluster just south of Miami Beach. This is probably the largest concentration of roundabouts in America.
Quote from: skluth on January 13, 2022, 04:10:47 PM
You didn't link and I could find no concentration of roundabouts just south of Miami Beach. However, I know of no higher concentration than this area (https://www.google.com/maps/@44.5391283,-88.0811605,15.69z?hl=en); drivers go through seven roundabouts in about a miles between Pamperin Park and St Mary's Hospital along the Packerland Drive/ Shawano Ave corridor. I'd be surprised if any other relatively busy corridor has this many roundabouts in that short a stretch, especially a four-lane corridor.
Quote from: cjw2001 on January 14, 2022, 06:03:25 PM
Using the map at https://roundabout.kittelson.com/ a search for Miami Beach shows 92 roundabouts in the resulting area.
I couldn't find any in Miami Beach (and couldn't imagine any situation where they would make sense). But I knew of some older ones in the Coconut Grove area. Sure enough, the area "south of Miami Beach" (better defined as south of the Brickell Financial District of Miami proper) includes both Coconut Grove and Coral Gables. That area has the particular flair where [roundabouts] make sense: (1) dominant left turn movements in areas where multiple turn lanes are impractical; (2) speed control issues (think Don Johnson on every corner); and (3) cultural interest in [roundabouts], in this case, artistic.